


Ping!

by Chaosprincess



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/M, possessive!Hordak, protective!Hordak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 10:36:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20274523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaosprincess/pseuds/Chaosprincess
Summary: Catra invites Entrapta to do some combat training, Hordak disapproves.





	Ping!

**Author's Note:**

> Not saying possessive behavior is healthy, just saying it's here in the fic. And if that's triggering for you, tread carefully <3 Take care of yourselves.

“Can you hand me the ten-sided Decidriver?” Entrapta asked, eyes fixed on the sparking contraption before her.

Ordinarily, Hordak would snap that he did not “hand” things to anyone, but with Entrapta he grasped the requested tool and passed it to her without a second thought. His gaze was also fixed at the metal contraption before them. He had no doubt that given enough time he would have solved this problem himself, but he was entranced by how quickly and fluidly Entrapta worked. She seemed to know intuitively how to maneuver technological challenges. Watching her work made him feel… content.

So naturally, it was not to last. 

_Ping._

The sound was aggravatingly familiar. Hordak grit his teeth, partially hoping that Entrapta had not heard it over the sound of hissing electricity, or that she would simply ignore it as she had in the past, back when portal technology consumed her interest entirely. But as she had many times before, Entrapta continued to work her hands while using a thick band of purple hair to reach for the glowing screen of her tablet. With a swipe of her purple tendrils, she opened the message sent to her, brought it to her face, snorted softly in amusement, and let her hair dance across the screen. There was a soft bubbly noise as Entrapta’s response rushed off to the sender and she set the screen down and went back to fully focusing on her work.

She’d barely gotten her hands back on her tools before the cycle repeated itself.

_Ping!_

The screen being pulled towards her face, a soft noise of amusement, a hasty reply.

_Swoosh._

Hordak’s eyes narrowed and darkened to red from their earlier content yellow. His mind clawed hungrily at his throat, wanting to ask what the fuss was about. Yet, he wanted to remain above whatever petty messages Entrapta was sending to her so-called friends. As leader of the Horde, he could not concern himself with such trivial matters.

_Ping!_

“Entrapta!” Hordak growled loudly, struggling to rein in his anger. “Perhaps it would be better to silence this device while we are working?”

“Hmm?” Entrapta hummed curiously. “Oh, yeah! I can do that if it’s bothering you.”

“It is not bothering me!” Hordak hissed. 

“Sooo, should I silence it or not?” Entrapta asked. 

“Please do,” Hordak affirmed. “We cannot afford such petty distractions.” 

“Okay!” Entrapta said cheerfully, flicking a switch on the side of her tablet and going back to work.

Hordak raised an eyebrow. For some reason, he hadn’t expected his request to go over so easily. 

“Do we have any current-inhibitors?” Entrapta asked. “I think it’s important that we be able to shut the power generator off if it’s feeling testy.” 

“We do,” Hordak said, moving to retrieve the desired component. 

“Thank you!” Entrapta replied politely. “Oh, and Hordak?”

“Yes?” 

“Would it be alright with you if we wrapped up a liiiiittle early today?” 

“Why?” Hordak asked, more harshly than intended. 

“Well, Catra invited me down to the training arena to practice some basic combat moves,” Entrapta explained, taking the metal contraption from Hordak’s hand and applying it to the wiring of the power generator. “She says that I can’t keep running away and expecting her and Scorpia to do all the work.” 

“Combat moves?” Hordak repeated slowly. “What use would you have for such a thing?”

He looked over the princess’s crouching body. She was physically strong, yes, lifting machinery much larger than he expected her to be able to given her small stature. She was also incredibly agile, swiftly navigating the ceiling and the air ducts of the Fright Zone. Yet, somehow Hordak was unable to imagine Entrapta using these gifts in the context of a fight. No, more than that, the thought of her engaging in combat unsettled… maybe even angered him. 

“Well, you know, for the next time I go out in the field to collect First Ones tech,” Entrapta went on, failing to notice Hordak’s increasing discomfort. 

“That will never be necessary,” Hordak stated firmly with narrowed eyes. “You are too valuable to waste in simple scavenging excursions. I will not allow it.” 

Entrapta laughed, an action that would have easily lead to imprisonment or worse for a lesser being. 

“Oh Hordak, Catra and Scorpia are excellent at retrieving First Ones tech, but they don’t generally know what to look for. There’s a fairly high probability of them stumbling upon First Ones tech that would be immensely valuable to us and failing to recognize its worth. Or maybe there will be symbols or clues to decipher in order to retrieve the tech, but neither of them can read it. There’s a lot of reasons for me to go out into the field.”

“That is what video communicators are for,” Hordak argued.

“Video communicators are fallible, and as we’ve seen before, they are especially prone to failure when in close proximity to First Ones tech. It’s much better that I witness it in person,” Entrapta countered in an utterly casual tone, as if they were debating what to eat for lunch. 

Hordak bit back an acidic reply and instead shifted to a new point.

“I could organize a personal guard for you," Hordak _strongly_ suggested. 

“Hmmm, a personal guard might slow us down. Catra and Scorpia are highly skilled as it is and we all work well together," Entrapta replied, snapping the device in place at last and reaching for another tool. "That's why it makes much more sense for me to learn how to assist them and enhance our collective strength, rather than adding new and potentially conflicting variables into the equation."

Hordak narrowed his eyes. Did she really expect him to trust those two bumbling fools with something as precious and fragile as her _life?_

"We could build robots designed to protect you in the field,” he replied tersely.

"Oooh, battle-bots! I should really look into that. In the meantime, you… still haven’t answered my question.”

Hordak did his best to hide his confusion. Her original query had gotten lost during their discussion. 

“Oh, yes… of course we can finish early today. I would like a little more notice next time, however. The work we do takes priority over everything.” 

“Yes, of course!” Entrapta said cheerfully. “But this will give our portal machine some time to cool off. We don’t want to overrun it before the next test.”

“You are correct,” Hordak muttered.

_As always…_


End file.
